There is concern over the state of our economy. I am not going to attempt to deny that fact and we are all aware of the negative effects. So how could I see the glass as half full? Because concern sparks curiosity – we have learned more about the commercial paper market, credit default swaps, knitting, accountability and regulation. And because concern causes us to think about how to manage resources more efficiently – we have been presented with a new challenge and will need to come up with creative ways to solve it in order to achieve long-term strategic objectives. We are presented with knowledge we wish to gain in conjunction with a problem we wish to solve. We are presented with a perfect environment for increased innovation.

Focusing on innovation during times of economic concern isn’t just a suggestion for the present and future. If you look at historical data, you’ll see that there is a weak correlation between GDP growth and disruptive innovation, indicating innovation has frequently been a byproduct of times like these. In addition to disruptive innovation, adjacent innovation may also be considered to meet goals to improve productivity or cut costs. Adjacent innovation is generally less resource intensive and provides a quicker return on investment, thereby decreasing the risk of an innovation initiative. Disruptive innovation is generally more resource intensive and requires a longer timeline to implementation, thereby creating a significant competitive advantage as concern over the state of the economy fades. While there might be the temptation to pull back and focus more on incremental or adjacent innovation, maintaining a healthy pipeline including potentially disruptive innovation is essential to the overall growth of an organization.

We encourage you to be in touch to learn ways in which your company can use Brightidea to take advantage of the current state of the economy and increase innovation.